Bottle-stopper



y 1961 E. TRAUTVETTER 2,993,612

BOTTLE-STOPPER Filed May 11, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 United States Patent P 2,993,612 BO'ITLE-STOPPER Erich Trautvetter, Koln, Germany (F riedrich-Ebert-Str. 9, Dusseldorf, Germany) Filed May 11, 1959, Ser. No. 812,220 Claims priority, application Germany May 10, 1958 3 Claims. (Cl. 215-41) The present invention relates to a bottle stopper, produced preferably of a thermoplastic-elastic material, in particular polyethylene or the like, which stopper is formed of a sealing neck portion projecting into the bottle neck and having about five superposed and annular sealing lips on the one hand, and a substantially concentrically arranged stopper jacket which surrounds the outside of the bottle neck, on the other hand, and which stopper is equipped with a weak annular line adapted to permit a tearing off of parts of the stopper.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a bottle-stopper which is designed advantageously and effectively in such a manner that it lends itself particularly for bottles having a higher inner gas pressure, for instance for champagne bottles or the like.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a bottle-stopper wherein the bottle jacket has a thick wall and is equipped with stifi ribs in order to bring about a stiffening of the outer jacket and which has a head which is separable from the remaining jacket by providing the Weak annular line adjacent the lower edge of the outer jacket along its periphery.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a bottle-stopper of thermoplastic material which is superior to all known bottle-stoppers of similar material.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a bottle-stopper which is strong enough on the one hand to stand up to the very high inner gas pressure, for instance of champagne bottles or the like, and on the other hand, which provides a reliable sealing against the inner pressure of the bottle. It has been found by experience that the bottle neck rather breaks under the high inner pressure, than that the stopper is removed in some manner. Furthermore, the stopper may be removed easily, without any efiort, from the bottle to an extent not achieved with known bottle-stopper structures.

The removal of the stopper from the bottle is favored by the fact that the margin bead is connected at the lower portion of the stopper jacket over a weak annular line with the remaining jacket, and furthermore, by the arrangement according to which the edge bead has a separation slot which is covered by a skin sprayed there on and which extends substantially axially in the extension of one side of the web of the portion to be separated, whereby upon a. strain on said portion to be separated in the direction of the periphery the skin is destroyed and the margin bead may be separated from the remaining portion of the jacket. Furthermore, the stopper in accordance with the present invention is of simple structure and rather economical in its manufacture in view of its surprising effect.

While all known bottle stoppers for champagne bottles require an additional metal strip and a connecting wire for safety reasons, the polyethylene stopper in accordance with the present invention does not require these auxiliary means necessary with the known structures, in spite of the high inner gas pressure of the bottle.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent in the following detailed description, the

2,993,612 Patented July 25, 1961 present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of a bottle stopper with a separable bead by means of a tearing buttstrap; and

FIG. 2 is an axial section through a bottle-stopper with separable edge bead.

Referring now to the drawings, the bottle stopper com: prises two main parts, namely a stopper sealing neck 10 which may be inserted into the bottle neck 12 and a stopper jacket 11 which oven-laps and surrounds from the outside the bottle neck 12. The sealing neck 10 of the stopper which is inserted into the bottle neck 12, has on its outside, thus on the side opposite the inner face of the bottle neck, a plurality, but at least five sealing lips 13, which provides a reliable sealing against the inner pressure of the bottle. The stopper sealing neck 10 is formed as cylindrical member which is open at its lower end towards the inside of the bottle and which has on its top a cover 14 which is equipped with a cup-like recess 18. The sealing lips 13, which are disposed on the outside of the sealing neck 10, are provided spaced apart from and parallel to each other on the periphery of the sealing neck 10 and are formed as closed annular ribs.

The stopper jacket 11 has a thick wall and a beaded collar 16 within the range of the bottle shoulder 15, which beaded collar 16 has within the range of the connecting zone with the jacket 11 a weakened cross-section of the material. At this point it is then possible to apply a knife or the like for the opening of the bottle, so that the holding head or collar '16 is separated from the main stopper jacket 11. This applies particularly to the embodiment of the bottle stopper disclosed in FIG. 2.

In the embodiment disclosed in FIG. 1, the separable holding collar or bead 16 has a tearing buttstrap 19, 20 which comprises a gripping part 19 on the one hand and a narrower connecting strip 20, on the other hand, disposed between the gripping part 19 and the holding collar or head 16. The holding collar or bead 16 has a separation slot 21 extending in the longitudinal direction of the stopper 11, which slot 21 is provided preferably as an extension of one lateral edge of the tearing buttstrap 19, 20. This tearing slot 21 is covered by a skin which is torn away during the separation proceeding. The gripping part 19 of the buttstrap 20 has at its rear side ribs 22 which are disposed crosswise to the narrow connecting strip 20, which ribs 22 permit a better gripping of the gripping strip 19.

The stopper jacket 11 and the inner sealing neck 10 are connected with each other within the range of the head of the stopper by means of supporting ribs 17, which engage the end face of the bottle neck 12 and which render the bottle-stopper jacket 11 elastic, as well as fortify the same. The ribs 17 are arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the stopper 11 and form altogether a star-like body, formed of a plurality of standing laminations. Furthermore, these standing ribs 17 have the advantage, that the head of the stopper 11 is sufficiently yielding and elastic, so that the bottle itself is not damaged or destroyed during the driving in of the stopper by pushing the stopper sealing neck 10 into the bottle neck 12. The hitting forces, occurring during the driving in and the beating in of the stopper 11 are received by these supporting ribs 17 and are rendered harmless as destroying beating forces for the end face of the bottle neck 12.

As already mentioned, the embodiments shown and described are merely examples for the application of the present invention and the latter is not limited thereto, rather many other embodiments and applications are made possible within the scope of the present invention,

particularly as-to the structure and formation of the holding collar orbead 16, which interengages the bottle neck 12 and its shoulder 15, respectively, as well as the position, configuration and number of supporting ribs 17 within the range of the head of the stopper 10. The stopper may be formed in a manner different from that shown in the drawings without abandoning the same advantages and the same presumptions of a safe holding in the sense of a pressure-tight closingon the one hand, and a simple and easy removal of the stopper from the "bottle neck 12 on the other hand.

While I have disclosed, several embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that these embodiments are given by example only and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the present invention being deter mined by the objects and the claims.

I claim:

1. A combined bottle cap and stopper of thermoplastic-elastic artificial material for a bottle having a bottle-neck, comprising a thick cap portion and a sealing neck extending downwardly therefrom into said bottleneck, and said sealing neck having a plurality of superposed annular sealing lips and a concentrically disposed stopper-jacket surrounding said bottle-neck, said stopperjacket having a 'Weak annular tearing line, in order to tear off a portion of said jacket along said tearing line, a plurality of stiif ribs integral with said cap and disposed between said stopper-jacket and said sealing neck, and

said stopper-jacket having a head at the lower end, said bead being adapted to be disposed below said bottle-neck, and said weak annular tearing line being disposed adjacent the lower edge of said stopper-jacket along the periphery of the latter and above said bead, and said bead engaging said bottle-neck and retaining said stopper on said bottle.

2. The bottle stopper, as set forth in claim 1, which includes a buttstrap secured tosaid portion'of said stopper-jacket to be torn ofi, and wherein said head of said stopper-jacket has a separating slot disposed substantially in longitudinal direction of said stopper and along the extension of a lateral edge of said buttstrap, said separating slot being covered 'by a sprayed over skin and simplifying the tearing off of said head.

3. The bottle stopper, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said buttstrap comprises a gripping member and a narrow connecting strip, and said gripping member having at its plane rear face a plurality of ribs. adapted to increase the gripping friction.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 697,793 France Nov. 5, 1930 1,073,737 France Mar. 24, 1954 1,086,833 France Aug. 18, 1954 1,123,250 France June 4, 1 956 

